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Transportation

Mame Reiley, Silver Line supporter, defends job at MWAA

By Lori Aratani and Mary Pat Flaherty,September 01, 2012

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“He was told that [Reiley] was gravely ill and stepping down and this was to help her have life insurance,” said spokesman Dan Scandling.

MWAA officials have declined to make Reiley’s employment agreement available, leaving details of her pact with the agency shrouded in secrecy.

But more than a dozen e-mails, obtained by The Post through a public-records request, include exchanges among Reiley, Potter and human-resources specialists at the MWAA detail some of the negotiations that went into the former board chairman’s subsequent employment. The e-mails include discussion of what her severance package would include and whether she would be able to continue to receive benefits accorded to former board members.

“Thanks Warren,” Reiley wrote to Warren Reisig, the MWAA’s benefits manager. “As discussed, under 3 B Fringe Benefit can we add something like, ‘as a former member of the Board of Directors (3 years as Chairman) the executive will enjoy any courtesies extended to former Directors.’ ”

Potter then weighed in.

“Mame, Per our conversation, we need to make this as plain vanilla a contract as possible,” Potter wrote. “You are being hired because of your ability to perform the work, not because of your Board association. Courtesies extended to former Directors is primarily a Board office activity and do not change because you work for the Authority.”

MWAA spokesman David Mould said benefits given to former board members include free parking at both airports and invitations to airport events.

Reiley said she had contemplated stepping down from the board due to health reasons and had discussed the matter with other board members. She said last winter that a fellow board member, whom she declined to identify, suggested she seek a position with the authority.

She said she has enjoyed her work at the authority because it offers her flexibility as she undergoes treatment for cancer. According to details of Reiley’s employment agreement outlined in the e-mails, she may work from home, but also has an office at MWAA headquarters at Reagan National Airport.

It is not clear how many board members were aware that Reiley was taking a job with the authority, since the board was not responsible for approving her employment agreement.

The Post’s records request also sought e-mail exchanges between board members regarding Reiley’s employment. MWAA officials said they could not provide this information because board members use personal e-mail addresses to communicate with each other about board business, making it impossible for MWAA officials to track such correspondence.

Potter praised Reiley’s work at the authority, saying she has played a key role in finding ways to generate non-aviation related revenue.

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